Page 59 of Not the Bodyguard's Widow
Both women laughed. “The refreshments are in the fellowship hall.”
Alex nodded and moved to Kimberly’s side. A middle-aged woman was giving her a hug. “I have something for you. It came in the mail last week. I put it in your cubby in the nursery so I wouldn’t forget it.”
“Letter?”
“It says ‘Happy birthday’ on the outside.”
Alex panicked. He hadn’t missed her birthday, had he? No, it was still a month away. He’d made a note of it when they applied for the wedding license.
Kimberly cocked her head. “That’s odd. My birthday is still weeks away. I’ll get it before I leave. Thank you, Tammy.”
“After the funeral, you’re going back to—?”
Kimberly patted Alex’s arm. “I’m going back to a safe place.”
Gladys craned her head back to take in all of Alex. “He does look like a safe place. Oh, look. Everybody is leaving. We better hurry if we want one of Lynda’s lemon bars.”
“They’re the best.” Kimberly reached for Alex’s hand but stopped before her fingers touched his and turned the motion into a “Follow me.”
Alex touched Kimberly’s elbow. “Letter or lemon bars first?”
“Letter?”
* * *
The children’s drawings on the wall had changed since the last time she’d been there. Instead of Easter lilies, flags now covered the tackboards. Alex and Elle followed Kimberly to the cupboard at one end of the room, where she opened the doors to reveal rows of shelves divided into sections. As she reached for a cubbyhole above her head, Alex caught her hand. “Don’t touch it.”
“Do you have any gallon-sized bags around?” asked Elle.
Kimberly dropped her hand and went over to another cupboard, where she unlatched a child-safe lock. “We have gallon, half gallon, sandwich, and quart.” She moved a box. “And two-gallon.”
“Zipper bags?” Elle joined her.
“All but the sandwich bags.”
Elle poked around in the cupboard. “Would they mind if we took a two-gallon bag and this plastic knife?”
“I don’t think so.”
Elle stuffed the knife into her back pocket, then turned the bag inside out, creating a huge plastic mitten. She stood on tiptoes to see into Kimberly’s space, then stepped back, handing the bag to Alex. “You’re the tall one. Perhaps you should do the honors.”
Alex took the bag as Elle had and used it to retrieve the bright-yellow, oversized envelope from the cubby. He used his free hand to pull the bag over the card.
“Don’t close it yet.” Elle dropped the plastic knife into the bag, then sealed the bag. Alex raised a brow. Elle rolled her eyes. “I’ll show you later. Let’s go get one of those lemon bars.” Elle tucked the bag holding the card into her purse.
“Don’t I get to see it?”
Alex put a hand on Kimberly’s back. “Later. It may not be something you want to read here. Which way to the fellowship hall?”
Kimberly frowned, but he was right. The last thing she needed was to break down with all her friends around. People milled around the fellowship hall with glasses of lemonade or water and small plates of cookies. Pastor Baxter hurried across the room when he saw them.
“Kimberly, I am so glad you came tonight. It surprised me you changed your mind about the celebration-of-life service for your mother.”
“I was too, but I needed to come back.”
“I am glad you did. I’ve wanted to talk to you ever since the interview aired. I always heard the media could twist someone’s words through editing, but I didn’t believe it until I saw what they did to mine.”
Kimberly gave the pastor a half smile. “When I first heard it, it upset me. However, I had a friend point out that what I heard might not be what you said. I haven’t thought about it since.”
